Drawer for articles of furniture



Jan.' 6, 1942. R. ABELMANN 2,268,917

DRAWER FOR AR'JlCLESl OF FURNITURE Filed July '7, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'lll/1111111111111111111111 Patented 6, 1942 Application July 7, 1939, serial No. 283,281 In AGermany July 12, 1938 7 claims. (ci. i5- 96) This invention relates to a drawer for articles offurniture, such as writing desks, tables for typewriting cabinets, and the like,` and its object is to provide minimum space for stor ing sheets of paper of various grades, forms and the like, and so as to be ready for convenient survey and handling.

The invention substantially resides in that in a drawer, comprising a rear section which is. subdivided into cells, and a front section whichis pivotally connected to the rear section so that it can be turned down, and is also subdivided.

into cells, the horizontal bottom boards defining the cellsQin the rear section are arranged movably and in such manner that their front ends are in a"substantially vertical position with respect to eachother when the drawer is in its retracted or inactive position, and staggered staircase-fashion toward the front when the drawer is in its advanced or open position.

Preferably, the bottom boards Aof the rear section are mounted to slide between the side walls of the rear section, and arranged to be vshifted to the front together by a coupling engaging all yBy these means, it is achieved that in the retracted or inactive position of the drawer in which both sections are within the article of 'furniturel the bottom boards of the rear section Y are in their space-saving position, vwith their.

front ends positioned vertically above each other,

while in the advanced or active position of the drawer the front ends of the bottom boards,

Y being staggered staircaseffashion, present the .sheets or forms so as to be readily surveyed,

readily accessible and engageable at any time. Therefore, it is possible to provide many cells of comparatively limited height .without intertering with the accessibility of the sheets or forms.

` the turned-down front. section when in extracted staircase-fashion. On the contrary, the bottom boards of the turned-down front section make up a continuation of the staggered bottom boards of the rear section above, and so the cells of the turned-down front section also present their contents of sheets or forms for ready survey and engagement.

` A further improvement according to the invention resides in that the bottom boards of the rear section are moved into their staggered or staircase-like positions by means connected to the front section, so that, when the drawer is extracted and during the turning-downl of the front section, all bottom boards of the rear section are moved into staggered position together.

In the accompanying drawings, a drawer embodyingV the invention is illustrated by J,way of example. v

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a horizontal'J section of the drawer, taken on the line I-I in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the drawerv in retracted position, taken on the line II--II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section which is similar to Fig. 2 but shows the drawer in advanced position, with its front section turned down.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line IV-IV in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the drawer is adapted to be housed in a pedestal forming part of a desk or writing table. I is the top plate of the desk, 2 is its rear wall, and 3 are the two sidewalls of the pedestal. A pair of slide bars 4 are secured to the inner sides of the side walls 3 below the space occupiedv by the drawer.

The drawer comprises a rear section; with a pair of side walls 5, a rear wall l, and a iront section, with a front wall 8 equipped with a .suitable handle, a pair of side walls 6, and `a bottom I0.. A similar bottom might' also be pro-l l vided for the rear section but in the example illustrated a pair of diagonals lare provided in place thereof. A sill II is insertedv between the side walls 5 of the rear section at its front end, and a similar sill I2, of somewhat larger crosssection, is inserted between the side walls 6 at the rear end of the front section. The sills II and I2 are made sufciently large so that they act as braces for the respective sections. The'l sill I2` ofthe front section, with its greater width, acts as a support for the sheets in the rearmost cell of the front section when this section is in its retracted position, Fig. 2, so that the sheets will not leave the cells Secured to the lower Asides of the sills II and I2 is a hinge I3 which\ the drawer is extracted, and permits the front section to be turned down, Fig. 3. l

Those portions of the side walls 6 of the front section which are up when the section has been turned down, are cut away along a curve, as shown, or a straight line, from a 'point I1 toward the joint of the two sections, so that the bottom boards iB which are loosely inserted in grooves I8in the side walls 8 of the front secv tion, define cells 28 to 25 of various-depths. By

these means, the cells at the rear are suitable for smaller sheets, and the cells at the front for larger sheets. Y

The bottom boards I9 of the front section are so arranged that they are substantially yvertical in the retracted position of the drawer, Fig. 2, and are preferably slightly inclined toward the joint of the two sections. Their inclination prevents slipping out of the sheets in the cells when the front section is turned down with a jerk. In

the turned-down position of the front section,I

the bottom boards i9, Fig. 3, are substantially horizontal, or slightly inclined to the rear, so that the sheets in the cells are easily engageable. If desired, partitions in the shape of loose boards 25 may be inserted between the bottom boards I9 in order to subdivide any, or all, of the cells 2E! to 25 into two compartments, each for the recaptionv of ya set of sheets, and the partitionsI may be arranged for lateral adjustment.

In order to limit the outward movement 'of the drawer, an abutment i@ is secured to one of the side walls of the rear section which projects downwardly beyond the'corresponding slide bar 4, for cooperation with a check I5 which Vis secured to the slide bar When the drawer is extracted, Fig. 3, the rear section is arrested by the check I5 and the turned-down iront section bears against a buier on the article. In the example illustrated, the side walls 6 of tlle."front section bear against a bottom board I6 in the pedestal. The drawer cannot now be extracted further, and a return'movement is prevented by in the retracted position of the drawer, Figs. 1- and 2, their front ends are in a single vertical i plane.' 'Ihe bottom plates 21 which are guided between the side walls 5 of the rear section, are connected by a coupling engaging all bottom plates and shifting them to the front staircasefashion in the extracted position of the drawer,

Fig. 3. Asbest seen in Fig. 4, the bottom boards 21 are mounted to slide in grooves in the'side walls 51 Vertical transverse boards 28 are arranged at the rear of each bottom bo'ard 21, to,

act as abutments for the sheets. Partitions 29 extending in parallel relation to the side walls 5 may oe provided for subdividing the cells of the rear section, and transverse partitions 30 also be provided for comparatively small sheets or forms. y

In order to more completely utilize the cells subdivided bythe transverse partitions 33, such partitions may be secured to slides 3l, `of wood bling of the drawers.

yextends at right angles to the direction in which 21 in the rear section is effected simply by means l of a rail 33 at the y,rear of the lrear section by which the bottomboards 21 are coupled. EyesV 32 are secured to the rear ends of the bottom boards 21, and the rail 33 is inserted in'the eyes. The upper end of the rail 33 is hook-shaped at 34 and placed on a fulcrum pin 35 at the rear wall 1 of the rear section. This permits of ready detachment from the rail 33, so'that -the individual bottom boards 21 are easily exchanged, removed, or completed by addition of more bottom plates. This also facilitates the assem- When one of the bottom boards 21 is pulled out, the others will move into the staircase position shown in Fig. 3 since they are all coupled by the rail 33.

Preferably, the bottom boards `21 of the rear section are controlled bythe hinged front 'section. For this purpose, in the example illustrated, a. double-armed lever `3'! is fulcrumed at the base of the rear section atv 38. The lower end of the lever is connected to the front section by a coupling rod 36, and its upper end denes a fork 39,40 which engages a pin 4I at one of the bottom boards 21. It will'appear that upon turning down of the front section, the coupling rod 3B swings the lever 31 about its fulcrum 38 which, through fork39, 40 and pin 4|, moves-the bottom boards 21 into their staggered position.

I claim: Y l. A drawerfor furniture comprising two sec# tions having their bottoms jointed together, said sections consisting of a rear section with hori- Y zontal partitionl boards and back boards and a with their front edges vertically superposed said' partition boards being slidably guided between the side walls of the rear section, a coupling between the sections, and means whereby the partition boards of the rear section are drawn into a. stepped arrangement by the coupling when the drawer is pulled forwardly. while the front section in its down turned position is supported on its bottom by a contact surface on the furniture, and the stepped partition boards of the downturned forward section forming a lower extension of the upper steps formed by the withdrawnl partition boards of the rear section.

2. A drawer according to claim 1, in which' the means includes a coupling bar and the par.

tition boards of the rear section are slidably mounted in groovesin the side walls of the rear section and are retractable all together by means of the coupling bar at th rear connected to said boards.

3. A drawer according to claim 1, in which the 'Y meansV includes a coupling bar and the partition or sheetmetal, which are inserted in the cells.

Such an arrangement is illustrated at the right in Fig. 4. When a supply of-forms in front has been exhausted, the slide 3| is withdrawn, s o that the forms which were at the rear, are now available. a v

The staircase-like shifting of the bottom boards vboards of the rear section are slidably mounted .in grooves in the side walls of the rear section '4 and are retractable all together by means of the l coupling bar at the rear connected to said boards,

and each horizontal partition board of the rear section is provided with an eye member whereby .the coupling bar is pivotally attached to the rear wall of the rear section and passes through the eye members of the partitionl boards.

l 4. A drawer according to claim 1, in which an abutment is provided on the rear section cooperating with `a xed abutment on a slide rail for the drawer.

1y connected to the front section by the link andA 5. A drawer according to claim 1, in which the means includes a linkage connecting 'the partition boards of the rear section whereby the movement of the step-wise retractable partition boards of the rear section is derived from the movement of the downwardly turnable front section by means of the coupling.

6. A drawer according to claim 1, in which the coupling comprises a lever intermediately pivoted to the under side of the limitedly retractable rear section and a link, said lever being jointedsaid lever having a forked end co-operating with a pin on one of the partition boards of the rear section.

7. A drawer according to claim l, in which the partition boards of the front section in the downturned position thereof assume a rearwardly and RUDOLF ABELMANN. I 

